''Bulbophyllum teretifolium'' is a species of

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

in the family

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family (biology), family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan plants that ...

. It is an

epiphyte An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

with cylindrical leaves and up to about forty small, white and purplish flowers and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is subtropical or

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

, moist montane forests, where it is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

Description

''Bulbophyllum teretifolium'' is an

epiphytic An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

herb with pseudobulbs long and wide. Unique to the genus, the leaves are cylindrical in shape, long and about wide. Between 19 and 37 white and purplish pink flowers are borne on a thin flowering stem long, each flower on a pedicel (including the

ovary The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/ oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are end ...

) long. The

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

is oval, long, about long and slightly warty, the

lateral Lateral is a geometric term of location which may also refer to: Biology and healthcare * Lateral (anatomy), a term of location meaning "towards the side" * Lateral cricoarytenoid muscle, an intrinsic muscle of the larynx * Lateral release ( ...

sepals long and about wide. The petals are about long and less than wide. The labellum is about long and long and has three lobes.

Taxonomy and naming

''Bulbophyllum teretifolium'' was first formally described in 1905 by Rudolf Schlechter and the description was published in ''Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''teretifolium'') is from derived from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

words ''teres'' meaning "rounded" and ''folium'' meaning "a leaf". In 2004, Phillip Cribb and Benedict John Pollard reported on the discovery of a single

that Pollard had discovered in 2002 on one small, cultivated mango tree ('' Mangifera indica''), in a private garden in Nyasoso (at elev. 830 m), Mount Kupe. They gave it the name ''Bulbophyllum kupense''. It is the only one ever recorded, and it is still living. However, it is highly probable that this is not the only example of this species, which likely occurs somewhere in the forests on and around Mount Kupe. A plan by the interested parties (Pollard, Cribb and others) to propagate a small part of the plant that was removed, is now underway. Pollard had observed that the garden that surrounds the plant's host has been fenced, affording it better-than-nothing protection. ''Bulbophyllum kupense'' is regarded as a synonym of ''B. teretifolium'' by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families.

Distribution and habitat

This orchid is only known from near Yaoundé, the capital city of

where it grows on the side of a hill.

Conservation

''Bulbophyllum teretifolium'' grows in forest threatened by deforestation, hunting and clearing for agriculture but with no conservation status. As ''B. kupense'' it is classed as "critically endangered" by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulbophyllum teretifolium teretifolium Critically endangered plants Plants described in 1905 Epiphytic orchids Endemic orchids of Cameroon